The timeline of the movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is a pretty straight-forward affair, with the movies all set in the year they come out.

That was until Spider-Man: Homecoming came along and stuck its oar in.

Continuity buffs found were quick to spot the fact that the most recent foray into the world of teen hero Peter Parker was supposedly based after the events of Captain America: Civil War, set in 2016.

But the movie then leapt the action ahead with an ‘eight years later’ time-jump hurled in (both in a title card and in dialogue), suggesting that the movie’s action occurs eight years after the first Avengers movie, which was released in 2012.

(Credit: Sony Pictures)

Now Joe Russo, one of the directors of Avengers: Infinity War – the other being his brother Anthony – has rowed back the two-year disparity.

Asked, in quiz format, what the time gap between Avengers Assemble and Spider-Man: Homecoming is, he replied: “Oh, it was eight years, I believe.”

He then added: “Yes, it was a very incorrect eight years.”

Kevin Feige, the head of the MCU, has never officially acknowledged the continuity blunder, and it would appear that it will most likely be swept under the carpet, rather than ‘fixed’, which seems an unlikely eventuality.

It perhaps didn’t help that Spider-Man: Homecoming wasn’t produced by the MCU at Disney, with Spidey’s rights still being held over at Sony Pictures.

Whatever the case, Avengers: Infinity War, featuring a baffling host of Marvel characters from Iron Man to Black Panther to the Guardians of the Galaxy, is due out across the UK on April 26.